Podcast: Bryant’s Ruben Resendes on his vision for the program

Bryant men's head coach Ruben Resendes joined 'The Goal' podcast. (Franklin Pierce Athletics)

The latest guest on New England Soccer Journal’s “The Goal” podcast is Bryant University men’s soccer head coach Ruben Resendes.

Last month, Resendes was hired by Bryant, after leading Franklin Pierce University to the Division 2 national championship in his fourth season as FPU’s head coach. The Ravens completed the historic campaign with a record of 25-0-1.

A native of Fall River, Mass., Resendes was also previously the head coach at Dean College and was an assistant at the University of Vermont. He played two seasons with the New England Revolution Academy, before enjoying a successful career at Southern New Hampshire University, where he earned All-America honors and three All-Region selections.

Resendes joined host Matt Langone to discuss why Bryant was the right move for him, his vision for the program and his time at Franklin Pierce.

The full podcast can be accessed below and is available on all major platforms. If you enjoy it, please leave a rating and a review.

Here are some highlights from our discussion with Resendes:

On why the job at Bryant was appealing:

Resendes: “Obviously, Bryant has transitioned (to Division 1). It’s one of the best, one of the most competitive soccer conferences in the country, in the America East. It’s a really, really good business school. We can attract some really high level student-athletes. And, when I stepped on campus and I met my bosses, (Director of Athletics) Bill Smith, (Deputy Athletic Director) John Rupert, (Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Relations) Jason Sullivan, I felt immediately that they had a big vision for this program and hopes for this program to be competitive on the national stage.”

On long-term goals for the program:

Resendes: “I mean, it sounds crazy, but I think the goal is to compete for a national championship every year. I think if you look at some of our competitors, like New Hampshire and Vermont that are in our conference, and also in New England, they’re doing that every single year. And there’s no reason why we can’t do that at Bryant as well.”

On being a Division 1 head coach as opposed to a Division 2 head coach:

Resendes: “I don’t think it’s major adjustments. I just think it’s more small details. The truth is, at this level, I just think the games are more competitive. I think truly anybody can beat anyone on any given day in-conference, out-of-conference. Everyone’s a good coach at this level, everyone’s got good players, everyone has a couple of guys on their roster that can really hurt you if you make a mistake or if you fall asleep for a moment within a game. So, I think it just comes down to the small details and kind of what you’re willing to sacrifice and what you’re willing to commit.”

On his national championship Franklin Pierce team:

Resendes: “We had really, really strong leadership. We had about maybe 12 guys on our team that could have been captains, out of the 30 players on our first team — we had a roster of 50, because we had a JV team. But out of the 30 guys on the varsity, we probably had almost half the team could have been captains. We had five captains, but the leadership was so strong and everyone wanted what was best for the team, regardless if they were playing or not playing. The culture was amazing. I know culture is such a big buzzword that everyone uses.”

On the next five-to-six months to prepare for the 2023 season:

Resendes: “We’re going to do everything we can to develop each player individually, develop the group collectively — input all of our ideas, how we want to play, how we want to attack, how we want to defend, how we want to live every single day off of the field, the habits that we want to create and, again, start creating that process that we want.”

The Goal” podcast is brought to you by the New England Revolution and Soccerheads New England.

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